Table of Contents

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Comparative Study on the Organization and Performance of Research Units, 1974 (ICPSR 7547)

Principal Investigator(s):
Knorr, Karin, et al.

Summary:

This data collection is the result of a cooperative six
nation project that was coordinated by the UNESCO secretariat. It
contains data collected in six European countries during the first
round of an international comparative study of the organization and
performance of scientific research units. Drawing from the growing
tradition of survey research approaches to the study of management
practices in science, in research, and in experimental development,
this study provided for a multi-faceted evaluation of scientific
productivity and effectiveness at the levels of both the individual
scientist and the research unit. The survey was conducted by six
participating national research teams that administered five
standardized questionnaires, translated into the national languages of
the participating countries, to a sample of scientists drawn from nine
major fields of science and technology and representing approximately
200 research institutions in each of six countries: Austria, Belgium,
Finland, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden. The questionnaires were
administered respectively to the head of the research unit, to the
administrative officer, to staff scientists, to technical support
staff, and to external evaluators. This data collection is an
aggregated file of the five respondent levels, using the research unit
as the case for analysis. In all, there are 1,222 research units in
the sample. The questionnaires incorporated a wide variety of
indicators for socio-psychological and sociological factors such as
satisfaction with the work environment, ratings of supervisory
qualities, perceptions of influence patterns, and the latitude in the
choice of research themes. Additionally, the collection includes
actual research output of the scientists individually and of the
research units as a whole, as well as information on the professional
experience of the research workers, the availability and quality of
resources, and the extent of communication within and between research
units.

This data collection is the result of a cooperative six
nation project that was coordinated by the UNESCO secretariat. It
contains data collected in six European countries during the first
round of an international comparative study of the organization and
performance of scientific research units. Drawing from the growing
tradition of survey research approaches to the study of management
practices in science, in research, and in experimental development,
this study provided for a multi-faceted evaluation of scientific
productivity and effectiveness at the levels of both the individual
scientist and the research unit. The survey was conducted by six
participating national research teams that administered five
standardized questionnaires, translated into the national languages of
the participating countries, to a sample of scientists drawn from nine
major fields of science and technology and representing approximately
200 research institutions in each of six countries: Austria, Belgium,
Finland, Hungary, Poland, and Sweden. The questionnaires were
administered respectively to the head of the research unit, to the
administrative officer, to staff scientists, to technical support
staff, and to external evaluators. This data collection is an
aggregated file of the five respondent levels, using the research unit
as the case for analysis. In all, there are 1,222 research units in
the sample. The questionnaires incorporated a wide variety of
indicators for socio-psychological and sociological factors such as
satisfaction with the work environment, ratings of supervisory
qualities, perceptions of influence patterns, and the latitude in the
choice of research themes. Additionally, the collection includes
actual research output of the scientists individually and of the
research units as a whole, as well as information on the professional
experience of the research workers, the availability and quality of
resources, and the extent of communication within and between research
units.

Access Notes

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Dataset(s)

Study Description

Citation

Knorr, Karin, et al. Comparative Study on the Organization and Performance of Research Units, 1974. ICPSR07547-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1999. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07547.v1

The data were deposited with the Consortium by the
Belgian Archive on Social Science, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and may
only be disseminated to Consortium members.

Methodology

Sample:
Each country had to include as least two scientific fields
(of 24 possible) incorporated by at least one other country. From this
minimum common basis, each research team carried out its national
sampling design according to existing possibilities in the country
concerned. Research Unit and Unit Head questionnaires were
administered personally. The Scientist or Engineer in a Unit and the
Technical or Service Staff Person in a Unit questionnaires were
generally administered in a collective way, and the questionnaire for
the External Evaluators was generally administered through the mail.